Shoe-shaping method.



D. A. MOYER'.

SHOE SHAPING METHOD.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-25, 1916.

1,224,197. Patented Ma.y1,1917.

Wyn/727 IUNI IED STATES PATENT @FFICE.

DAVID A. MOYEB, OF BIRDSBORO, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATEBSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SHOE-SHAPING METHOD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 1, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID A. MOYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Birdsboro, in the county of Berks and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Shoe-Shaping Methods, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to the manufacture of shoes and has been used with advantage in making turn shoes although its utility is probably not limited to that class of shoes.

It is recognized as important in the making of shoes to get the upper snugly forward on the last before wrapping it over the forepart of the last and considerable attention is given to drafting the upper forwardly for this purpose. Ihe drafting strain is however applied to the forepart of the upper and is not altogether effective upon the rear part. I have discovered a method by which to obtain more close fitting of uppers to the rear part of lasts than has heretofore been secured.

In one of its aspects this invention consists in preliminarily shaping the rear part of an upper to adapt it to fit its last snugly by stretching that part of the upper over a form. I prefer to stretch the upper by rubbing it alternately toward the right and left. I have devised a convenient device to assist the assembler in practising this method by looping the upper over the form and rubbing the upper back and forth a few times before he applies the upper to the last. Preferably the height of the upper relatively to the shaping device is gaged and the shaping action therefore is concentrated below the margin of the upper which is to be lasted inwardly over the heel seat of the shoe and which therefore would not be stretched.

The invention will be more fully understood from the following description with the aid of the accompanying drawings and will then be particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 indicates a turn shoe upper as the assembler receives it and applies it to the shaping device or form.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the device provided to aid the assembler in shaping the upper.

Fig. 3 illustrates the shaping operation.

Fig. 4 shows an upper after treatment to shape it to fit the rear part of its last when assembled on the last.

A turn shoe is indicated at 2 and its lining at I, it being the practice, as is well understood, to assemble turn shoes with the upper inside the lining. In this class of shoes particularly the loose upper is lacking in precision of form and if applied directly to a last would not fit the rear part of the last snugly but would pucker and wrinkle thereon in such a way that only by excessive pulling upon the forepart, if at all, could the upper be made to fit the rear part of the last closely. In accordance with the present invention the assembler, or it may be any operator, applies the upper first over a form 10 or the like and pulls it around the form transversely of the back seam 3 first in one direction and then in the other to stretch the upper lengthwise and effect a rubbing and smoothing of it over the form. The form preferably is vertically convex on its rear end face so that a concavity or pocket is produced in the upper by the pulling and rubbing to adapt it to fit the usual convex rear end face of the last upon which the upper is to be assembled. Preferably the vertical position of the upper on the shaping device during the shaping operation is gaged to concentrate the shaping action upon the part ofthe upper that is to fit over the'most convex part of the heel and leave the marginal edge 5 of the upper unaffected.

The shaping device which I.prefer to use, and which constitutes the subject-matter of my divisional application, Ser. No. 128,028, filed Oct. 27, 1916, is indicated atlO, being a metallic block shaped like the rear part of a last and having a neck 12 provided with a threaded rod 13. A stand 14 has a table 15 upon which the neck rests and through a slot in which the rod extends to receive a clamp nut 16. The table and neck serve to gage the vertical position of the upper with relation to the shaping device. The table is formed on a slant relative to the stand and holds the shaping device at an inclination to the vertical convenient for the assembler to gee-saw the upper back and forth on the orm.

Having explained the nature of this invention and described how it may be used, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in applying the rear part of the upper to a form having a vertically' convex face and see-sawing the upper forth and back around the form to shape it so that it will set smoothly against the rear end of its last when applied thereto.

2. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in applying the rear part of the upper to a form having a verticall convex face 'a in the vertical rela-- 7 D b b tion of the upper to the form so that the portion of the upper which is to constitute the heel seat flange will not be stretched, and seesawing the upper forth and back around the form until the portion which is to contact with the rear end face of the last is stretched to form a pocket for the rear end of its last.

per over a form and relatively rubbing the upper and the form lengthwise of the upper.

4. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in preliminarily shaping the rear part of the upper having a back seam by applying that part of the upper to a form and while holding it snugly to the form producing relative motion of the upper and the form to rub the upper transversely of the length of the back seam.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

DAVID A. MOYER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of.TPatents, Washington, I). C. 

